The unfortunate captives repaired to the house of the French consul-general, where they were to remain till they could be sent to France; they were afterwards taken before the emperor, whom they found sitting in a sort of coach body. He looked at M. de Brisson for some time, and then told him that he had been wrecked through his own fault, by not keeping far enough from the shore. He then asked for ink and paper, and traced with a reed the four principal points of the compass to indicate that Paris was northwards; after which he scratched about a dozen Roman characters, and gave the paper to M. de Brisson, asking him if he could read it? On repeating a few other questions to shew how well he was informed, he added, that the rebels of the desert had ill-treated him, and desired to know what they had taken from him. M. de Brisson told him all that had happened; on which he said, “I do not command in the country where you have been taken, that is the people are beyond my authority.” He wished to know how M. de Brisson had got to his capital; and on being told, he ordered Sidy-Sellem to be brought before him. He asked him, if he had given a high price for the Frenchmen, and what he intended to do with them. To which Sidy-Sellem replied, that he had no other intentions than to prostrate himself at the feet of his sovereign, and do the homage of a slave. He then enquired, whether the Wadelims and Lebdessebas had any other Christian prisoners. Sidy-Sellem, in the most submissive manner, answered, that there were several whom he could easily collect, if the emperor would give him orders. The emperor, however, dropped the conversation; but he ordered the Frenchmen to be guarded for the present, and supplied with provisions from the royal kitchen.
The next day the consul claimed them, and they were given up. The emperor does not supply the ambassadors or other foreigners in his capital with any household furniture, though he assigns them a residence, and distributes to them a certain number of oxen, sheep, poultry, and a quantity of bread.
The inhabitants of Morocco are almost white, and are not quite so barbarous as those of the desert, which, perhaps, is only owing to the presence of the emperor. One day M. de Brisson rode out on horseback with the French consul and American envoy: they were followed and pressed hard by the mob, till at last they were obliged to dismount, although escorted by a guard; without this precaution their lives would have been in danger. M. de Brisson was struck on the head by a stone, and it was impossible to discover the offender.
A few days afterwards the emperor again ordered the slaves before him in the court where he gives his public audiences. He was sitting on a beautiful charger, caparisoned with blue and scarlet cloth covered with gold fringe. Beside him was a squire or prince holding a long pole, on the top of which was a parasol to shelter his majesty from the solar rays. Behind him stood the body guard in the most profound silence. The looks of the emperor seemed to spread consternation around him: indeed, he is always preceded by terror; for he orders the heads of several of his subjects to be struck off, and beholds the execution with the most perfect apathy. His will is a law, and is executed instantaneously; but when a rich criminal purchases his pardon, he is never put to death, whatever may be his crime. At this audience the Frenchmen were permitted to depart.
M. de Brisson and the baker embarked for France; and Sidy-Sellem retired well satisfied with the generosity of the consul.
CHAP. II.
ISLE OF ARGUIN. — PORTENDICK. — HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE DIFFERENT NATIONS WHO HAVE OCCUPIED THOSE PLACES. — EUROPEAN COMMERCE AND FISHERIES. — CAPE VERD. — GOREE, ITS POSSESSION BY EUROPEAN NATIONS. — ACCOUNT OF THE MANNERS AND TRADE OF ITS INHABITANTS.
THE ships which leave Europe for the establishments in the Atlantic ocean, along an extensive coast of about three hundred and fifty leagues, cannot relay more conveniently in Africa than at the isle of Arguin, at which their commercial operations may be said to begin. The most safe anchorage is at the southern point, where vessels that draw only ten or twelve feet water may approach very near to land. Between the isle and the continent is a canal in which vessels of heavy burden, and even frigates, may anchor at the spot on which formerly stood the fort. When the Dutch took the place, they regularly fortified it, and built a fort with four bastions and deep fosses. In short, they neglected nothing that might enable them to keep perpetual possession of the isle, but this fort has disappeared; and of all their works there only remain two cisterns, which seem to have been respected both by time and men. The largest is ten fathoms wide, sixteen long, and about fifteen deep, and is about two hundred fathoms from the part containing the remains of the face of the fort. It appears to have been dug in the rock. In the midst of this spacious vault is a large well fifteen feet deep, in which all the waters unite, whether they proceed from springs or filtrate through the rock from the soil which covers it. It is asserted that the cistern contains five thousand six hundred muids of water. The smaller cistern is to the north of the first, and is an artificial vault dug like the other by the hand of man, with the assistance of explosion. The capacity of the parts which receive the water is estimated at half that of the cistern first mentioned. These two cisterns were formed by the Portuguese between 1445 and 1481, when after the fall of the Norman company they first occupied the isle of Arguin.